News

18th January 2018Special Social Events for Accompanying Persons

We are happy to announce two special social events which we have specially planned for accompanying persons of conference participants who will be attending the 9th International Freiberg Conference. In addition to attending welcome reception at the Intercontinental Hotel as well as conference dinner in the TV Tower Berlin, you will also join a guided city bus tour which offer a taste of Berlin life, rich history and architecture; as well as discover the jewels of Berlin’s world famous Museum Island with a visit to the renowned Pergamon and Neues Museum. For those interested, please register for your accompanying persons when you register yourself as presenter or participant for the conference via our conference webshop.

12th December 2017Technical Tour Program for the 9th International Freiberg Conference

The 9th International Freiberg Conference is happy to announce its technical tour program which includes the lignite open cast mine WELZOW-SÜD, the modern coal power plant SCHWARZE PUMPE, the world’s leading wood-based panel producer KRONOSPAN, the cement manufacturer CEMEX and the gas turbine innovation centre SIEMENSSTADT. Please refer to the Technical Tours section for more information.

29th November 2017Special Issue in FUEL for the 9th International Freiberg Conference

We are pleased to announce that a Special Issue in FUEL will be published for the upcoming 9th International Freiberg Conference on IGCC & XtL Technologies. All conference presenters are invited to submit manuscripts for consideration in this special issue. Detailed information regarding submission deadline will follow.

27th November 2017Sponsors for the 9th International Freiberg Conference

We are pleased to welcome CAC, CECO, ECUST, ENVIROTHERM, KRONOSPAN, MIBRAG, Synfuels China and ZEMAG as sponsors for the upcoming 9th International Freiberg Conference.

23th November 2017Virtual Special Issue in FUEL from the IFC2016

The Virtual Special Issue for the International Freiberg Conference on IGCC & XtL Technologies – Innovative Coal Value Chains in 2016 published in “FUEL” is now available for download from ScienceDirect.

24th October 2017BASF, DBI-Virtuhcon GmbH and LEAG as sponsors for IFC 2018 in Berlin

The IFC conference organization team is happy to announce BASF, DBI-Virtuhcon GmbH, LEAG (Lausitzer Energie und Bergbau AG) and MIBRAG (Mitteldeutsche Braunkohlengesellschaft mbH) as sponsors for the 9th International Freiberg Conference. We are looking forward to five very interesting and diversified days in Berlin.

1st September 2017Abstract submission system is now active. Deadline for submission is 12th January 2018.

We welcome authors to submit their abstracts for the 9th International Freiberg Conference via our conference submission system. The abstract submission system will be active until 12th January 2018. Please refer to the author guidelines section for the abstract submission template in preparing your abstract.

28th August 2017Social Events

We have planned unique social events to make the 9th International Freiberg Conference a memorable experience. The conference will kick off with a welcome reception on Sunday evening serving foods and drinks on the conference hotel’s “Zoo Terrace”. A special highlight will be the conference dinner on Monday evening which will be taking place high above the city in the rotating restaurant of the Berlin TV Tower. We look forward to having you join us there to take in the beautiful view, enjoy German and international cuisine, as well as mingle with international colleagues.

8th August 2017InterContinental Berlin: Conference hotel for the 9th International Freiberg Conference

The 9th International Freiberg Conference will be taking place June 3-8, 2018 in the InterContinental Berlin, a modern and upscale hotel situated in the heart of the city and right next to the Berlin Zoo, the serene Tiergarten Park, and the famous avenue Kurfürstendamm. For more information about the conference location and hotel as well as transportation information to Berlin, please refer to the VENUE section on our conference homepage.

8th August 2016Submission deadline for FUEL special issue: 15th August 2016

Presenters at the 8th International Freiberg Conference are invited to submit optional full-length papers which will be reviewed for publication in a conference special issue in the Elsevier journal FUEL. The deadline for submission of full-length papers is 15th August 2016. Please send your full-length papers to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

8th August 2016Presentations from 8th International Freiberg Conference now available for download

The PDF presentations from oral and poster presentations from the 8th IFC are available online for download in our Conference Archive (ISSN: 2363-8702).

*Please note that oral presentations and posters are only uploaded onto the Conference Archive when they have been presented during the conference and where explicit approval from the presenters have been obtained. For presentations where we did not receive explicit approval from the presenters, only the abstracts have been uploaded onto our Conference Archive.

8th August 2016Successful conclusion of the 8th International Freiberg Conference in Cologne, Germany

Following the successful conclusion of the 2015 conference in Inner Mongolia, China, the International Freiberg Conference is once again back in Germany in 2016. From 12-16 June 2016, the Institute of Energy Process Engineering and Chemical Engineering (IEC, TU Bergakademie Freiberg, Germany) presented in collaboration with the Institute for Chemical Processing of Coal (Poland) the 8th International Freiberg Conference in Cologne – a location situated near the heart of the Rhenish lignite mining region in Germany. In view of the social and political debates about the future of coal which are taking place in Germany and around the world, this year’s conference provided an exciting platform to intensively discuss issues linked to the challenges and opportunities for coal in the global energy economy. Moreover, taking advantage of the location, a special focus of the conference was on technical tours to modern plants/facilities located in the region.

This exciting event brought together over 200 experts, specialists and researchers from 20 countries for four days of intensive discussion about innovative coal value chains and the wide range of thermo-conversion issues linked to coal conversion and syngas production. We have a very strong European presence this year, especially from Germany with over 110 participants from science, industry and politics. The biggest group of international participants comes from China, followed by Poland, USA and Russia.

The 8th International Freiberg Conference is very honoured to have Mr. Garrelt Duin, Minister for Economic Affairs, Energy and Industry for the Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia as its patron. The three plenary speakers namely Prof. Bernd Meyer (Institute director of IEC and Chairman of the Conference Organisation Committee), Mr. Garrelt Duin as well as Mr. Matthias Hartung (CEO Of RWE Generation SE and RWE Power AG) kicked off the conference with insightful presentations of R&D, political as well as industry perspectives relating to coal activities and utilisation in Germany, thus setting the stage for stimulating and interesting discussions for the rest of the conference period.

In addition to the scientific program which took place in Pullman Cologne Hotel, participants also had the opportunity to take part in technical tours to the Neurath Power Plant, Garzweiler Opencast Mine as well as the Niederaussem Power Plant and Coal Innovation Centre owned and operated by RWE. Additionally, they also had the chance to visit modern chemical complexes in the region such as INEOS, CHEMPARK Leverkusen as well as Lyondellbasell.

The conference organising committee would like to thank all participants, exhibitors, sponsors and supporters for their contribution to making the 2016 conference in Cologne, Germany, a success and a highly memorable event for everyone.

17th March 2016Preliminary Conference Programme is now available – IFC2016, Cologne, Germany

The preliminary conference programme for the 8th International Freiberg Conference on IGCC & XtL Technologies is now available online! We are looking forward to an exciting conference and your active participation to make the upcoming event an interesting and memorable event for all participants.

24th February 2016Conference online registration is now open! Early bird registration before 1st April 2016.

The online registration system for the 8th International Freiberg Conference is now open. We highly encourage participants to register early for the conference so as to enjoy the early bird registration fee before 1st April 2016. Please register online under www.shop-iec.de.

The number of places for technical tours are limited; places will thus be allocated on a "first come, first served" basis. We therefore encourage early registration to guarantee your place in the technical tours.

4th February 2016Patron and plenary speakers for the 8th International Freiberg Conference

We are delighted to announce that Mr. Garrelt Duin - Minister for Economic Affairs, Energy and Industry for the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany - is the patron of the 8th International Freiberg Conference. Additionally, we are very pleased to have Mr. Duin as well as Mr. Matthias Hartung - CEO of RWE Generation SE and RWE Power AG - as our plenary speakers.

28th January 2016Overview of Technical Tour Programme now available

The 8th International Freiberg Conference offers conference participants the exciting opportunity to visit modern coal mining, generation and R&D facilities as well as chemical plants in the Rhenish region and engage industry experts in dialogue during the technical tours. On 15th June 2016, participants can choose to either participate in the half-day technical tours POWER 1 to Neurath Power Plant or in CHEMICAL 1 to INEOS. On 16th June 2016, participants have the choice between full day tours POWER 2 which includes a visit to the Garzweiler Opencast Mine and the Niederaussem Power Plant and Coal Innovation Centre, or CHEMICAL 2 which will take them to CHEMPARK Leverkusen and LyondellBasell.

As the number of places for technical tours are limited, places will be allocated on a “first come, first served” basis. We therefore highly encourage early registration to guarantee your place in the technical tours! Online registration for technical tours will be available together with the conference registration from 5th February 2016 onwards.

13th January 2016Final call for abstract submission and deadline for FUEL Special Issue

Authors who are interested to make an oral/poster presentation at the 8th International Freiberg Conference are reminded that the deadline for abstract submissions is on 15th January 2016.

Authors are also invited to submit full-length papers which will be reviewed for publication in a conference special issue in the Elsevier journal FUEL. The deadline for submission of full-length papers is 15th August 2016.

9th October 2015FUEL Special Issue – International Freiberg Conference on IGCC & XtL Technologies in 2016

The conference organisation team is pleased to announce that the 8th International Freiberg Conference on IGCC & XtL Technologies will be having a special issue in the Elsevier journal FUEL, a leading international journal for the science and technology of fuel and energy. Authors submitting abstracts for oral or poster presentations are invited to also submit full-length papers which will be reviewed for publication in this special issue.

Please refer to the Guide for Authors in FUEL in preparing the full-length paper. The manuscript must be submitted to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. in order to be considered for the special issue.

Please note that the submission of a full paper is optional. Authors are welcome to present an abstract as an oral or poster presentations without submission of a full paper.

More information about submission deadline for optional full-length papers will be available soon.

2nd September 2015Abstract submission system is now open. Deadline for submission is 15th January 2016.

Authors can submit abstracts to the 8th International Freiberg Conference via the conference submission system until 15th January 2016. Please refer to author guidelines for the abstract submission template as well as instructions in preparing an abstract.

24th August 2015Pullman Cologne: Conference hotel for the 8th International Freiberg Conference

The 8th International Freiberg Conference will be taking place from 12-16 June 2016 in the Pullman Cologne, a stylish and elegant hotel situated in the heart of the city and only a few minutes’ walk from the famous Cologne Cathedral, the Rhine river and the historic district. For more information about the conference location and hotel, other accommodation alternatives and transportation information to Cologne, please refer to the VENUE page on our conference homepage.

29th July 2015ICHPW as co-organiser for the 8th International Freiberg Conference, 12-16 June 2016, Cologne, Germany

The IFC conference organisation team is happy to announce that the upcoming 8th International Freiberg Conference will be jointly organised together with the Institute for Chemical Processing of Coal (Zabrze, Poland). The event – to be held in Cologne which is situated near the Rhenish coal region in West Germany – will feature two and a half days of conference presentations in addition to diverse interesting technical tours and social events which are designed to facilitate exchanges and networking between stakeholders from politics, industry and science. The call for abstracts for the 8th International Freiberg Conference will be available soon.

15th June 2015Successful conclusion of the 7th International Freiberg Conference in Huhhot, Inner Mongolia, China

This year’s conference, co-organized by the Institute of Energy Process Engineering and Chemical Engineering (TU Bergakademie Freiberg, Germany) and Synfuels China Technology brought together 160 experts, specialists and researchers from 15 countries for four days of intensive discussion about the wide range of thermo-conversion issues linked to coal conversion and syngas production. A special focus of the event was the development of CtL technologies in China. Participants had the opportunity to obtain first-hand experience of the rapid and large-scale CtL developments in China through technical tours to the Yitai Dalu Coal-to-Liquids Plant and the coal-to-chemicals gasification site owned by the Inner Mongolia Rongxin Chemical Industry. The conference organising committee would like to thank all conference participants, exhibitors, sponsors and supporters for their contribution to making this year’s event in Huhhot, Inner Mongolia, China a success. We look forward to welcoming you to the next conference in Germany in 2016.

12th May 2015MDR-report to the theme: „Is lignite simply dirt?”

Chemical feedstock for the future or “dirty” fossil fuel? Lignite is a controversial energy source for power generation. The main concern being that CO2 emissions associated with coal combustion processes pose significant harm to the environment. Does lignite has a future beyond power generation? The chemical industry has discovered alternative non-energetic utilization for lignite. Click here for MDR-report.

The online conference registration starts. Please use our webshop for registration. Accepted payment methods include credit card payment (Visa & Mastercard) and bank transfer. To take advantage of the lower prices, registration must be completed before 1st April 2015.

23th February 2015Accommodation Possibilities in Huhhot

The Shangri-La Hotel in Huhhot is the conference hotel. Each participant is responsible for making his/her own hotel reservation. Please note that the conference hotel, Shangri-La, will reserve rooms for conference participants until 8th May 2015 (while availability lasts).

A conference rate is available for participants for room reservation between 7th to 12th June. Room reservation with Shangri-La can be made under www.shangri-la.com/huhhot/shangrila/reservations. Under Corporate/Special Rate (Optional): Please select GROUP and insert the booking code FIC070615.

If you are looking for alternative accommodation possibilities in Huhhot, please find a list of recommended hotels (in addition to the Shangri-La Hotel) in Alternative Hotels, Huhhot. Remember to book early!

20th January 2015Abstract Submission Deadline (26 January 2015)

The deadline for submitting abstracts to the 7th International Freiberg Conference is 26 January 2015. Submit your abstract now to take part in the upcoming conference in Huhhot, Inner Mongolia, China from 7-11 June!

The Institute of Energy Process Engineering and Chemical Engineering (IEC) at TU Bergakademie Freiberg is pleased to inform you that the Compact Course: Fundamentals of Gasification Processes will be held from 20th - 22nd April 2015 in Freiberg/Germany.

The compact course “Fundamentals of Gasification Processes” is designed to provide a general overview of gasification technologies and related issues. Within three days, a broad survey on the fundamentals of gasification along the entire process chain will be given.

The course is intended for engineering and technical personnel who either want to get a first understanding of gasification or plan to update and expand their knowledge on gasification processes and technologies. As attendance is limited to 20 participants, please send us your registration at the earliest possible opportunity.

Furthermore, we would like to announce that the Short Course: Gasification Processes will be held from 21st - 22nd September 2015 in Freiberg/Germany. Please see the preliminary course schedule for further details.

For questions, please contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

It would be a pleasure for us to welcome you in Freiberg!

4th December 2014ISSN for presentations/posters at International Freiberg Conference on IGCC & XtL Technologies

The organising committee of the 7th International Freiberg Conference on IGCC & XtL Technologies is pleased to announce that all accepted presentations/posters will be published and archived online after the conference under an ISSN reference (ISSN 2363-8702). Please refer to the author guidelines for further details.

15th September 2014 New website

The new webpage is online. Comments are welcome and can be submitted via This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or through our contact form.